YVR Airport has already recorded 19 million passengers so far in 2023

Vancouver International Airport has already recorded 19 million passengers so far in 2023

Vancouver International Airport (YVR). (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

Vancouver International Airport (YVR) continues to see a very strong rebound in passenger volumes, with the latest data showing YVR recorded 18.9 million passengers over the first nine months of 2023.

This is a staggering figure as YVR’s entire annual total for 2022 was 19.013 million passengers. With three months still left in the year for 2023, YVR is already on par with last year’s passenger volumes.

If YVR continues to see the same monthly passenger volumes for the remainder of this year, the 12-month total for 2023 could come relatively close to reaching the all-time historic record of 26.4 million passengers in pre-pandemic 2019.

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The monthly average between January and September of this year was 2.1 million passengers per month. If this trend holds, YVR could potentially see roughly 6.3 million passengers between October and December to end 2023 with an annual total of 25.2 million passengers, making it YVR’s third-highest annual total on record — behind 2018’s tally of 25.9 million. YVR is certainly on pace to exceed its original forecast of seeing 22 million passengers in 2023, which was an estimate established late last year.

In contrast, YVR saw 13.79 million passengers over 2022’s first nine months, 20.28 million passengers over 2019’s first nine months, 19.96 million passengers over 2018’s first nine months, and 18.46 million passengers over 2017’s first nine months.

Over the latest quarter, the three-month summer period between July 1 and September 30, 2023, Canada’s second busiest airport saw over 7.18 million passengers, representing a 21.7% increase over the same three-month period in 2022, and just under 30,000 passengers shy of the same three-month period in 2019.

According to the Vancouver Airport Authority, these recovering passenger volumes were driven not only by pent-up travel demand but also by the expanded services from the airlines serving YVR, especially Air Canada, which added major US destinations serving Miami and Washington Dulles.

The airport saw a total of 59,796 arriving and departing flights from 110 airlines over this summer period. Over 2.5 million outbound bags were processed, and an average on-time performance of about 70% was maintained for departing flights.

vancouver international airport yvr international arrivals

International arrivals area of Vancouver International Airport (YVR). (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

In June, for the first time ever, YVR adopted a Runway Slot system requiring all commercial passenger carriers, such as Air Canada and WestJet, to use a pre-booking system for scheduling runway and tarmac windows for both departures and arrivals movements on the airfield. This Runway Slot system is commonly used at other busy international airports, and it will help improve reliability, efficiency, and on-time performance. Later this month, this system will be further expanded to other operators.

Over the summer period, YVR Express — the ability to reserve a spot in security screening up to 72 hours before takeoff — was used by 76,789 departing passengers, representing about 10% of travellers flying during the service’s operating hours.

A new online tool on YVR’s website, launched in June, that enables passengers to see real-time security wait times and parking availability has experienced relatively high use over the summer, with 527,000 views recorded over the period.

“We are in a time of growth at YVR and as an industry. I am proud of our team and the entire YVR community for delivering on our commitment to helping travellers navigate the airport more easily and elevating their experience, while never wavering from our values of safety, innovation, teamwork, and accountability,” said Tamara Vrooman, president and CEO of the Vancouver Airport Authority, in a statement.

“We connected more passengers to more destinations over the summer. We also acted quickly to support our community when they needed it most – during one of our province’s most challenging wildfire seasons – and we continued to strengthen our work and partnership with Musqueam.”

According to YVR’s latest available full detailed monthly statistics, the airport saw 2.45 million passengers over the month of July 2023, including 1.26 million for domestic, 638,000 for US transborder, 302,000 for Asia Pacific, and 193,000 for Europe. This closes in on YVR’s pre-pandemic 2019 total of 2.6 million passengers over the same month.

While domestic and US transborder passenger volumes are now at par with 2019, YVR is still lagging behind in the international markets of Asia Pacific and Europe.

In terms of runway movements, over July 2023, YVR saw 15,808 jets, 7,771 turbo-props, and 403 pistons.

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